The incoming president Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte said that the purchase of the twelve FA-50 Fighter Jets of P18.9 billion from South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries by the Aquino administration is a waste of money.
Duterte said that the fighter jets are not even enough to fight China for the Scarborough Shoal issue.
In a business forum in Davao City on Tuesday, Duterte said “We only have what, two FA-50s? Why did you buy that?”.
“To the Air Force, do not misconstrue me. I’m a Filipino. I’m a citizen of this country and I have every right to say what I want to say. (Sayang ang pera dun) Money was wasted there. You cannot use them for anti-insurgency, which is the problem at the moment. You can only use these for ceremonial fly-by,” he added.
The two jets arrived last November and were used last December for the 80th anniversary of the Armed forces of the Philippines and 199th death anniversary of Jose Rizal, and the ten jets are expected to arrive next year.
Duterte said the money spent for the 12 fighter jets could have been utilize to buy some helicopters or boats that would help to catch the Abu Sayyaf.
“If we had night vision goggles, we could have caught up with these guys and if we had fast boat, we could have pursued them,” Duterte added.
The internal security problems should be solved first so the country can promote tourism and lure more investments Duterte said.
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